More posts are up over at ilovefoodnetwork.com. One of them contains links to some of the Food Network chefs’ facebook/twitter pages. Why? So we can see what THEY say have to say about this whole situation. You can imagine how awesome those commentaries are. Just brimming with fresh insight and controversy. And by “brimming with,” I mean completely “absent of.” But, hey, whatever.
Their latest post is what really interests me. In it Scripps announced that “Food Network is teaming up with WPIX-TV in New York and WTXX-TV in Hartford, Conn., to bring Cablevision subscribers the unprecedented culinary competition Super Chef Battle: An Iron Chef America Event on Sunday, January 10th from 8-10pm ET.”
Now, on one hand I can appreciate that they’re doing this for us. I really can.
But on the other hand, it’s even more aggravating. This whole time they’ve been mourning the fact that us Cablevision customers are in the middle of it and can’t watch any of our favorite programs. Well, let’s remember who the hell put us in the middle. Scripps (parent company of FN and HGTV) did. THEY pulled their damn programs and are the ones asking US to send eCards and call Cablevision. So this is the SCRAP that’s tossed to us? Wow. ONE SHOW. The commenters on ilovefoodnetwork.com already revealed who won by the way. I won’t spoil it. But it won’t take you long to find it.
I’m trying not to be selfish about this, though. Instead, I stepped back and I thought about what they’re doing with this little “here’s one show you can watch” thing. And it made me wonder:
If Scripps really cared about us not being able to watch our favorite programs, and if they really WEREN’T about the money, and if they really do want to send a message to Cablevision that it won’t be undervalued and that they’re not afraid to fight… then why, during this outage, wouldn’t they put all of their programming online? I mean, come on, if they really care about us, why not? Why not work out something where Cablevision customers who can’t watch Food Network or HGTV email them and they get a special unique password? Or, hell, just leave it open for all to see?
“Because then EVERYONE would get to watch it for free,” someone in the audience asks.
OK, but not really. How many people in Kentucky (or anywhere) who are paying for cable or satellite are going to cancel their service because Food Network shows are up online temporarily? Pretty much none, I’m guessing.
I’m sure there are some valid concerns about taking such an action. My guess is that those concerns could be addressed. But even if it can’t be every show, so what? The point is, it’s entirely possible that Scripps could put some programming online and make it available to its customers. I mean, how great would that be: “Dear Cablevision customers: Sorry we pulled our programming off Cablevision. We did it because Cablevision are cheap bastards. But, you know what? We’re not putting you in the middle of this and making you fight our fight. Rather, for everyday Cablevision continues to be cheap bastards, you can come to our website and watch all of your favorite shows FOR FREE. And the best part is: Many of you who have Cablevision are also online through a bundled service. That means you get to watch OUR show FOR FREE using THEIR SERVICE. We understand that you’d rather watch TV on your actual TV. So, please, send them an eCard or call this 800 number.”
How great would that be?
See now if they did something like that, I might actually think that they give a damn about us (the people who made them so popular, by the way).
But, hey… maybe I’m just naive.
In the meantime, folks, don’t forget: You can watch ONE Food Network show on WPIX. There’ll be commercials of course. After all, Scripps wouldn’t want to miss the chance of making a buck. Especially when the ad rates will be nice and high, it being an “unprecedented” show, and all. Not that they’re greedy.
So, hey, enjoy your one show, everyone! And remember: Scripps cries itself to sleep every night because YOU are in the middle of this awful, awful situation. They toss and turn and turn and toss and pull out their hair, “IF ONLY THERE WAS A WAY TO DO SOMETHING FOR OUR VIEWERS, IF ONLY THERE WAS A WAY TO BATTLE CABLEVISION WITHOUT PUTTING OUR VIEWERS IN THE MIDDLE OF IT!”
Maybe someday they’ll figure a way out of such a conundrum. Maybe.
I used to love Food Network 